1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic control device including a connector for connecting an electronic circuit board housed inside a case to an external device, and a method of manufacturing the electronic control device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic control device to be used for control of a vehicle or the like generally has the following structure. Specifically, the electronic control device includes an electronic circuit board and a connector. On the electronic circuit board, electronic components such as an input/output circuit, a communication circuit, a microcomputer, and a power-supply circuit are mounted. The electronic circuit board is housed inside a case. The connector is provided to connect the electronic circuit board to an external device.
As a structure of the case of the electronic control device described above, the following structure is known. Specifically, the case includes a cover and a base. The electronic circuit board is interposed between the cover and the base of the case. A surface of the cover and a surface of the base, which are held into contact with each other, are bonded with a water-proof sealing material or the like.
Moreover, the following technology for the connector of the electronic control device is known. The connector is formed as an independent structure. The connector includes a pin header portion including connection terminals to the external device and a connector housing portion including an opening portion for connecting the connection terminals to the external device.
As a structure of the connector obtained by applying the technology for the connector to the above-mentioned structure of the case, the following structure is known. Specifically, after the pin header portion is assembled to the electronic circuit board in advance, a printed circuit board is interposed between the cover and the base so that the pin header portion is assembled to the corresponding connector housing portion. In the above-mentioned manner, the connector is formed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 02-066865).
As a water-proof structure for the connector to be used in the electronic control device described above, the following structure is frequently used. Specifically, a water-proof packing provided on an outer circumference of a housing of a connector provided to the external device, such as a harness, is brought into close contact with an inner wall of a housing of the connector provided to the electronic control device. In this manner, a water-proof property is demonstrated.
However, the related art has the following problems.
In the electronic control device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 02-066865, the pin header portion and the connector housing portion which constitute the connector are formed as independent structures. Therefore, in order to demonstrate performance as the connector, the cover including the connector housing portion and the pin header portion are required to be positioned with high accuracy.
Therefore, when the positioning accuracy is not sufficiently high, there is a problem in that assembly of the device and fitting to the connector provided to the external device may fail.
Moreover, when the electronic control device is required to have the water-proof property, the connector is required to be positioned with higher accuracy. Therefore, even if the fitting itself is possible, there is a problem in that the water-proof property may become unsatisfactory because of insufficient contact with the water-proof packing provided to the connector on the external device side.